Hexagon paper piecing

A few months ago I spotted The Liberty Book of Home Sewing for a bargain price in a local shop and couldn't resist. Its full of lots of gorgeous pictures of some of the classic Liberty prints and lots of inspiring projects - one of which uses traditional hexagon patchwork to make a cot quilt. I hadn't tried it before but was tempted as it a great way to use little scraps of fabric and show them off in a really beautiful way.

Then I had the opportunity to attend a paper piecing workshop with author Nikki Trench at the the Craft Hobby and Stitch show at the NEC in February. She was promoting her latest book, A Passion for Quilting,  and was sharing her paper piecing tricks and tips - and it got me hooked.

So, paper piecing is basically done by cutting out lots of paper hexagons..I just used normal paper..then temporarily stitching scraps of fabric to the paper, making sure you have enough of a seam allowance. You need a fair few hexagons to get you anywhere but I've made a good start with the liberty print scrap pack I recently bought.

Lots of colourful scraps

I've used a red thread to tack my fabric onto the paper so its easy to spot when I remove it later, once all the hexagons are stitched together. 

Once you have your fabric covered hexagons you then use a whip stitch to stitch all the hexagons together. First make up 'flowers' of 7 hexagons and then stitch your 'flowers' together. I couldn't resist making up one of the 'flowers' to see how it would turn out. The red taking stitches won't get taken out until the very end.

After attending the workshop with Nikki I used the sample I had made to make a pin cushion. Its done in exactly the same way but to create the width of the pin cushion I used little squares that were the same dimension as the length of one of the sides of the hexagons. Bit fiddly I got there eventually. I then used a self cover button for the centre to create more depth and shape. It also helps to make it look a bit more flower like. 

Its a nice way to use up scraps of a favourite fabric that you might otherwise throw away. Its also a good way to test the water the paper piecing instead of committing to a whole quilt. It does take a while so really is a labor of love.

Up-cycled shirt patchwork quilt

As I'm sure most of you do, we have a serious hoard of old clothes that haven't ventured out the wardrobe for months, if not years, but haven't quite made it to the charity shop yet! 

I'm also sure most of you can empathise with how difficult it is to get rid of certain clothes sometimes......'it might come back into fashion again', 'I've not worn it enough times', 'its still in half decent condition', or the most common one for me is 'I just love it and can't bring myself to part ways just yet'. 

In the case of these shirts below...they had managed to make it out of the wardrobe but unfortunately  not into the bin - despite worn out holes, being ripped and generally a bit tatty. Sick fed up with an untidy pile of old clothes in the spare bedroom, I decided to do something else with the shirts instead.

 Enter the latest issue of Mollie Makes and the gorgeous quilt project by Nikki Trench from her new book 'a passion for quilting'. The idea behind the project is to gather bits and pieces of fabric you already have or something that has a special meaning, so using the shirts seemed perfect. 

As seen in Februarys' issue of Mollie Makes, the patchwork quilt project by Nikki Trench

So off I got to work cutting out my squares. I decided to make slightly smaller squares than suggested as it was easier to just cut round the grid ruler that I had already. If you've never used a rotary cutter before your missing out! Nothing gives super straight sharp lines like it! Its one of those really satisfying cuts! 

 I used 6 shirts in total and ended up with almost 160 squares! 

 Laying it all out become a bit complicated. I don't have a surface big enough in my house so had to use as much of the bed as I could then spill it onto the floor. 

 Next was stitching all those squares together. It was a bit of a slog but I got a system going and managed to get my time to stitch a strip down to about 7 minutes. It all got a bit competitive by the time I reached the 14 strip!

 And here is my finished quilt....

 ......with pockets incorporated.

 I decided to use a navy blue soft and cosy brushed cotton for the back to contrast with the light colours of the shirts. I used white quilting thread to make the squares stand out more on the back too. 

What to do with crochet granny squares?.......Bunting!!

Before I left to go on my South American adventure last November I got together a crochet project ready to take with me. I had been knitting and sewing so much before I left that going away for 7 weeks without doing anything crafty seemed pretty hard. 


I had bought the gorgeous 'Cute and Easy Crochet' book by Nikki Trench not long before I left and decided to take some supplies with me to make one of her throws (see previous blog post). 

The same throw was recently featured in Mollie Makes Magazine

I knew there would be long plane and bus journeys so thought it might be a good way to pass some time. Unfortunatly my little scissors got confiscated at security at Birmingham Airport (too pointy apparently) so I had to buy a nail clipper to cut my yarn...quite effective once I got the hang of it! 


So I had great intentions...had all my yarn ready....colour scheme decided...copied out the pattern...had my nail clippers and hook...

The yarn I used was Amy Butler belle organic aran for Rowan 

......hmmmmmm, things didn't quite go as planned....I managed to make about 20 squares in total...... 

 So all this yarn had a lovely trip too...being stuffed in my rucksack for 7 weeks....

I think its hard to just have one project on the go at one time. I missed my vintage top I was knitting before I left...but I could't have brought that too!  


So for all of you out there who have more that one project on the go...good for you!! Variety is the key I say.... especially when it come to me and to crochet. 


So instead of making up the throw I decided to so something that had more instant results.....bunting! Everyone loves a bit of bunting and using crochet squares makes for a good alternative to the traditional triangle ones. 

7 weeks without stitching - NEVER!

As my big trip to South America looms closer I've been thinking about what projects I can take that will keep me going during 7 weeks of backpacking.  We have decided to only take 2 smallish rucksacks each. Mine is 33 litres and hubbys is 35 litres. So space is seriously tight.

We've got quite a distance to cover, and even though we will be spending a lot of time trekking and sightseeing there are quite a few long bus and plane journeys in to get through as well. What better way to pass the time than to take some projects to keep me going.

I thought about taking the vintage knitted top that I keep going on about, but I would be beside myself if anything happened to it, its taken me so long to figure out how to do it and I've spent so long working on it.

A few weeks ago now I was at the Knitting and Stitching show in London and the lovely people there taught me how to crochet. I had tried once before but made the mistake of not practising regularly enough and quickly forgot how to do it.

Since then I've been practicing granny squares and I am defiantly getting more of a hang of it...although still not mastered what to do with all the loose ends.

So I thought something like this might be good to squeeze in my rucksack. Only one hook needed...I can take just a few balls of wool...no biggie if my rucksack gets nicked or anything. Maybe by the time I get back I'll have enough squares to stitch me up a blanket!

I bought this gorgeous crochet book by Nicki Trench recently. 

It has a few blanket projects in it but I'm going for the beginner one...this 'Springtime Throw'. Its bloomin' massive (finished size 162cm x 2223cm)...so I'm just going to work with the few yarn balls that I have and see how many squares I get to. 

House of Fraser have a sale on the Amy Butler Belle Organic aran and DK at the moment...I think they are selling of there end of line stock and I managed to top up some of the yarn that I already had for just £2.50 per ball (usually over £5 so a bit of a bargain). Only problem was you had to buy it in packs of 10 balls...which seemed excessive....so I managed to find a few smaller packs and I'm planning on using the cream and the two shades of blue to make up a smaller blanket. Will probably end up being a baby sized blanket...now I just need a baby...maybe not just yet!